Losing Hope
by crazygal27
Summary: Emily's daughter goes missing. Hotch and the rest of the team do everything they can to help find her. Eventual Hotch/Prentiss.
1. Chapter 1

Losing Hope

"I'm home!" Emily Prentiss entered her condo, a little later than usual _Damn paperwork_. She was surprised to have not received her usual greeting. "Hope!"

Usually, when she arrived home, her beautiful three year old daughter would come running straight into her arms. "Hope, where are you honey?"

Walking into her little girls room, she glanced around searching for her baby. _Where is she? And where's Alice? _

She frantically raced around the rest of her apartment, starting to get worried. "Hope!, Alice!"

"If you're playing a game sweetie, you need to come out now, coz mommy's getting kinda scared" _Oh please be playing a game, please be playing a game._

"Hope!" _Something's wrong, even if Hope was playing, Alice would have said something by now._

"HOPE! ALICE!" _Maybe they're at the park. No. Alice wouldn't take her to the park this late._

Emily came back into her daughters room, she quickly pulled her cell out of her bag and dialled the first number that came to mind "Hotchner."

"Hotch, it's me, I… I…" Tears were now present in the terrified agents eyes, as she tried to think of what to say.

Hotch could hear the anxiety and fear in his subordinates voice. "Prentiss? What is it, what's wrong?"

"It's Hope, she's gone. I just got home and she's not here. Alice, my babysitters not here either. I don't know where she is Hotch. Alice wouldn't have taken her out this late. She wouldn't. I know she wouldn't. I don't know what to do." Liquid was now streaming down her cheeks as she blurted out what was going on, still desperately searching her daughter's room.

"I'll be right over, just…" Hotch's sentence was cut off abruptly by a deafening scream on the other end of the line. "Prentiss!"

Emily couldn't drag her eyes away from the horrendous scene before her. She dropped her cell as she fell into a state of shock, unable to take in anything other than what she had found in her daughters closet. She cried out, as she snapped herself out of her trance. Still feeling dizzy, she reached for the phone. "Hotch…"

"Emily, are you okay. What happened? Why did you scream?"

"Alice is dead," she choked out, still not removing her gaze from Alice.

"Hope?"

"She's not here. Someone's taken her, they must have," she answered through her sobs.

"Emily, I'm in my car right now. I'll be there as soon as I can, just stay put okay." He sighed loudly. "I'll call the rest of the team and I promise none of us will rest until we've found her."

"Okay," She replied faintly, flipping her cell shut. The broken agent curled up on the floor as she now silently cried to herself. She forced her eyes shut, as millions of questions flooded through her mind. _Why would someone take Hope? Who had her? What was going to happen to her? What had already happened to her? Why would they kill Alice? How long would it take to find her baby?_

Emily Prentiss knew the statistics on child abductions, _ninety-nine percent killed within the first 24 hours_.

**Hey,**

**Thanks for reading, please review.**

**Will update A.S.A.P.**

**Jade xxx**


	2. Chapter 2

Hotch leapt out of his car and ran towards Emily's apartment. Rushing through the open front door, he called for her "Prentiss!"

No response.

"Prentiss, where are you?"

Still nothing.

"Emily!" He frantically searched her condo, "Emily!"

He then entered Hope's room and took in the sight of the broken brunette on the floor. "Emily," he breathed out softly, swiftly moving over to her and pulling her into his arms.

Emily sobbed into his chest, as one hand fisted his shirt, needing his comfort.

"Hey," Hotch placed his hand under her chin and pulled her head up. Her bloodshot, watery eyes locked onto his. "We're going to find her."

"What if we don't?" Her voice was faint, he could barely hear her through her sobs. "I can't lose her."

How was he supposed to respond to that. Gazing down at the broken agent in his arms, he couldn't stop the negative thoughts from invading his mind. SSA Aaron Hotchner would do anything in his power to find the little girl, but he couldn't guarantee anything. What if he couldn't find her in time?

"Emily, the team will all be here soon and I promise we will do everything we can to get her back home."

The raven haired agent pulled him closer, saying nothing. He knew he should start gathering evidence and profiling the scene, but he couldn't bring himself to leave her. The team would arrive any minute, they could deal with it.

A few minutes passed, before he heard his name being called. "Hotch! Prentiss!"

"Morgan! In here!"

Seconds later, SSA Derek Morgan sprinted into the pink room. Glancing down at his colleagues on the floor, he nodded to Hotch and asked, "How is she?"

"Not good." He pointed over to the closet. "That's Alice Blackwell, Hope's babysitter."

"Shit." Morgan let out with a long sigh, after observing the corpse stuffed in the little girls closet.

"EMILY!" A frantic shout came from the lounge.

"JJ, we're in here." Morgan called back to her.

Jennifer Jareau rushed into the little girls room and came straight over to her best friend, in pieces on the floor. "Em," water was threatening to escape her own eyes. "We're going to find her, okay."

Emily couldn't speak, she just stayed in Hotch's comforting embrace, unable to control her tears.

"Morgan. JJ. I need you to profile the scene, and look for anything that will help us get Hope back." Hotch ordered, with a soft tone.

The two began wandering around the room, looking for anything they could.

Within minutes of them starting their search, Emily's cell started to ring, on the floor beside her.

When Emily didn't move from her position on his lap, Hotch reached for the phone and brought it to his ear. "Hello, Emily Prentiss' phone."

"Put Emily on the phone." the voice on the other end of the line spat.

"Who is this?"

"Put Emily on the phone." he repeated with the same tone.

"Not until you tell me who I'm speaking with."

"Put Emily on the phone right now, or she'll never see her daughter again!" The man shouted down the phone.

Emily grabbed her cell out of her bosses hands, as she heard what the voice had shouted down the phone. "This is Emily Prentiss." Within seconds, she had pulled herself into agent mode and almost sounded calm as she spoke.

"Hello Emily."

Now that the phone was pressed to her ear, Emily recognised the voice on the other end of the line. "YOU BRING HER HOME, YOU BASTARD."

"Do you think it's wise to speak to me like that?"

"DALLAS!" She tried desperately to calm herself down, but he had her baby. "Please Dallas, bring her home, I promise I'll give you anything you want, just don't take her from me," she begged through her sobs. "Please."

"Anything I want? I'll get back to you on that." With that said the phone line went dead, and Emily dropped to the floor, once again.

Hotch pulled Emily up of the floor for a second time, but not into his arms, this time he held her in front of him and stared into her dark brown eyes. "Emily listen to me, I know this is hard but we need to find Hope. How do you know this man, Dallas?"

Emily let out a deep breath she hadn't even realised she was holding, before replying. "He's Hope's father."

**Hello,**

**Thank you for reading and thank you to all who have reviewed.**

**Hope you liked it,**

**Will try and update soon.**

**Please review,**

**Jade xxx **


	3. Chapter 3

"Her father?" Hotch stared deeply into her eyes.

"Yes."

"Do you know why he would take her?" Hotch questioned, as softly as he could. "You said he didn't want anything to do with her, when she was born."

"I lied." Emily spat out, crying her eyes dry.

"What do you mean?" He asked, a little harsher than he meant to.

"I'm so sorry."

"What are you sorry about?" The chief unit pleaded with her. "Emily, what's going on? We need all the information we can get, if we want to get Hope back home as quickly as possible."

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you."

"Tell me what?"

"Dallas raped me." Emily pulled away from his strong grip and threw her hands over her face, as shame spread through her.

JJ moved over to her and dragged her hands away from her face. "Emily, why didn't you tell me?"

"I was embarrassed." Her sobs increased, as the broken brunette cuddled her knees to her chest. "I just froze."

"What?" She asked, softly, encouraging her to continue.

"Dallas was my friend, I trusted him." JJ pulled her friend into her arms. Emily rested her head against the blondes chest. "I'd had a bit to drink and he forced himself on me. I told him to stop and tried to push him off me, but I couldn't. He was too strong." She paused, taking in a big breath. "I just lay there after that. I didn't scream, I didn't struggle. I just froze."

JJ was now in tears as well. "Em, I'm so sorry."

"Why didn't I scream?"

Aaron Hotchner strode over to the girls and pulled Emily's face up to look at him. "Emily listen to me. What happened that night wasn't your fault."

"But, why didn't I scream?" she repeated. Aaron had never seen her so broken. "I let it happen."

"No, you told him to stop, you did everything you could." the older man pleaded with her. "It wasn't your fault."

"I never told him."

"You never told him what?" JJ asked, releasing her tight grip on her friend, so she could look at her face.

"I never told him about Hope." She looked between her friends. "But then last week, I saw him in the street. I tried to get away from him as fast as I could, but I didn't want to frighten Hope."

Emily stopped speaking. "What happened?" JJ asked.

"He saw me and once my eyes locked onto his I couldn't tear them away. I froze… again." The once unbreakable agent gazed into Hotch's eyes as she spoke. "And then he saw Hope and he knew. As soon as I saw his expression change, I knew he'd clicked. He knew she was his."

"Then what happened?" Hotch questioned, delicately rubbing his hand up and down her arm.

"I picked Hope up and I ran. I didn't look back after that."

He nodded sympathetically, before looking to the blonde agent. "JJ, release Hope's picture to the press, if anybody has seen her we need to know about it."

JJ nodded to her boss, before tightly squeezing Emily into one more comforting hug.

Hotch then turned to Morgan who had been standing against the wall near the little girls closet, listening to Emily's confession. "Morgan, call the others and find out where they are and then get Garcia to do a check on a Dallas…"

"Jones." Prentiss finished for him, when he paused.

Morgan and JJ both exited the room and went into the lounge, leaving Hotch and Prentiss alone.

"Hotch, what are we going to do?" Emily sobbed out.

"We're going to find her." He pulled her up off the floor and dragged her forcefully against his chest, holding her tightly, before placing a soft kiss to her forehead. "I promise."

**Hi,**

**Thanks for all the reviews, please keep 'em coming.**

**Will update as soon as I can.**

**Jade xxx**


	4. Chapter 4

"Hotchner." Aaron quickly answered his cell, as it rang.

"How is she?" Garcia asked on the other end of the line.

"As good as you could expect. What have you got Garcia?"

"Well, Dallas Jones had a wife, Julie Jones. They had three kids together, McKenzie 8, Emma 6 and Willow 5."

"All girls?"

"Yes and missing persons reports have been filed for all three children this afternoon."

"What?" Hotch questioned. "He's taken more children?"

"Yes."

"What?" Prentiss enquired, gazing deeply into Hotch's eyes.

"Garcia, check for reports of any other missing children in the area. There may be more."

"One step ahead of you boss man." Garcia chimed down the phone. "One other report filed today in the local area. Another little girl, Chloe Sanders, age 3. Mothers name is Michelle."

"Thanks Garcia, send the address and contact numbers of Julie Jones and Michelle Sanders."

"On their way, Garcie out."

"Hotch what's going on?" Emily asked as he flipped his cell shut.

"Dallas Jones was married with three kids, today all three children went missing, along with another girl, Chloe Sanders. We're not sure if Chloe's connected, but we're going to find out."

Emily wrapped her arms around Hotch's waist, holding him close. He squeezed her tightly, pressing a soft kiss to the top of her head.

"Morgan!" Hotch called out, still holding Prentiss in a vice like grip.

"What do ya need?" Morgan asked as he came into the room.

Hotch explained to Morgan what information Garcia had given them and then asked him to call Mrs Jones, to find out if she knew anything that could help them, while he called Mrs Sanders to find out if she had had her own encounter with Dallas.

"Hello, is this Michelle Sanders." Hotch asked

"Yes, who's this?" The voice sounded timid.

"I'm Agent Hotchner with the FBI, I'm calling to ask you a couple of quick questions that may help us find your daughter."

"FBI? Oh my God, what's happened? The FBI don't just stop what they're doing to find a missing child."

Hotch let out a sigh. "Four other little girls have been taken today and they have all been connected to a man named Dallas Jones. Does that name mean anything to you?"

"Oh God." The line went quiet for a short while.

"Ma'am?"

"Yes, yes." Hotch could here the woman crying down the phone. "He's her father. Biologically."

Hotch continued to ask Michelle anything that might help them find her daughter… and Emily's. Unfortunately she hadn't seen Dallas since the night he had raped her, she didn't even know he knew about Chloe. She told them where he worked at the time and the bar he used to like to drink in.

He thanked her and then shut his cell, turning to Prentiss, who now seemed a lot calmer. "You okay?" He inwardly beat himself for asking her that. "Stupid question, never mind."

Hotch then called Garcia to ask her to send the information on the two place Michelle had told him about.

As he finished his call with Garcia, David Rossi sprang into the room. "What took you so long?"

"Sorry, traffic was awful."

"Is Reid here yet?"

"Yeah, he's with Morgan." Rossi looked around the room. "Where's JJ?"

"Getting Hope's picture to the media." Hotch replied. "That reminds me." He pulled out his cell again. "Garcia, send pictures of Dallas and the other children to JJ and ask her to release them to the media with Hope's"

Hotch filled everyone in on what was going on and all the new information they had found out.

Morgan was now going to go to talk to Mrs Jones in person and try to get any information they could. Rossi and Reid where going to hit the place Mrs Sander said Dallas worked at, Garcia confirmed that he still worked there now. She couldn't however find his address as it said he was still living with his ex-wife, which was not the case. And Hotch and Emily headed to the bar that Dallas Jones was known for drinking in.

**Hey,**

**Sorry it's been a while.**

**Thank you for reading,**

**Thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far, please keep 'em coming.**

**Jade xxx**


	5. Chapter 5

Hotch and Prentiss were silent for the first part of the journey.

Emily could think of nothing other than her little girl, she was sure Dallas wasn't going to hurt Hope, but she wanted her back so badly. Hope was her life. Tears welled up in the corner of her eyes, threatening to escape, but she held them back. She had to be strong, if only for Hope's sake. They needed to find her and she had to get a grip and concentrate.

Hotch wanted to speak to her, say anything to comfort her, but he didn't know what to say. He didn't want to say anything that would make things worse. There was only so many times he could tell her that everything was going to be okay.

"Prentiss?" _Don't ask her if she's okay. _"Are you okay?" _You idiot._

"I will be when I get her back." She smiled over at him through teary eyes.

Hotch tried to think of what to say next, eventually deciding to focus on something more positive, like what they would do when Hope was back at home. "How about the four of us go out together, when we find her?"

"The four of us?" Emily looked confused.

"You and Hope, me and Jack." Aaron flashed her one of his rare smiles. "We could take them for some ice-cream or something. Jack loves spending time with both you and Hope. He thinks of her as a little sister."

"That would be… great. Really great." A few tears leaked from her eyes.

Hotch reached his right hand over and squeezed her knee. "We're going to find her."

"I know." She returned her gaze to the road ahead. "I just… I never told Hope about her father."

"Understandably."

"But now he has her and I don't know what he's going to say to her. What if she likes him?"

"Hey, that's not going to happen." He gave her knee another tight squeeze. "It doesn't matter what he says to her, he's the man that stole her away from her mom, the mom that means everything in the world to her."

"I just… I just wish Hope had a father, a good father, not someone like Dallas." _Someone like you. _She added in her head.

**Hey,**

**Thanks for reading, sorry it's so short.**

**Please review,**

**Jade xxx**


	6. Chapter 6

Hotch and Prentiss arrived at the bar and quickly hopped out of the car. They knew that Dallas wasn't going to be in the bar, but they hoped there would be someone there that could help them find him. And Hope.

As they headed towards the bar, Hotch's cell rang. He flipped it open and brought it to his ear, to be greeted by a sobbing woman on the other end of the line.

"Ma'am, are you okay?" He asked, stopping his walk towards the bar.

"He called me." She spluttered out. "Dallas called me."

"Miss Sanders?" He enquired. "Is that you?"

"Yes, I don't know what to do"

"Please ma'am, I know this is difficult, but can you try to keep calm and recall what he said to you?"

There was a short pause before she spoke again. "The first thing he said was, 'she's just as beautiful as her mother'." She tried to remain as calm as possible and control her tears. "No hello or anything, just that."

"Okay, what did he say after that?"

"Well, I screamed at him and demanded that he bring her home." Hotch could tell the tears were increasing. He waited patiently for her to continue. "He told me… that if I spoke to him like that again… I'd never see Chloe again." She was sobbing loudly as she finished.

"Did he say anything else after that?" Hotch's voice was sympathetic as he spoke.

"No, he just hung up."

"He didn't ask you for anything? Like a ransom?" Hotch was slightly confused by that.

"No, that was everything he said." There was a pause on the line before Michelle spoke again. "Agent Hotchner, please bring my little girl home. I couldn't bare to live without her."

"I promise you, I will do everything in my power to bring Chloe home. Can I ask you to do something that will help?"

"Of course. Anything." Michelle replied quickly.

"Can you come down to the bureau?"

"Yes, of course."

"Thank you. I'll send one of my agents to pick you up."

Hotch closed his cell and turned to Prentiss, who could tell what was going on, even though she'd only heard one side of the conversation.

A single tear escaped her eyes, as she looked up at him. "I should have reported it."

"Prentiss…"

"No Hotch." She cut him off. "I should have reported the rape. If I had have done, this would not be happening. He wouldn't have the Hope, or any of the other little girls."

"Emily, this is not your fault." Hotch pleaded with her.

"Don't lie to me Hotch." she spat, as more tears flooded down her flushed cheeks. "I should have reported it and because I didn't, this happened. It is my fault."

"Listen to me." Hotch spoke with his usual demanding, FBI authoritative voice, shocking Emily. "Yes, you should have reported it, or at least told the team, but you didn't and we all understand why you didn't. Dallas is a sick human being and what he is doing now is not your fault."

"But I…"

"No. Do you blame Michelle Sanders for this?"

"What? No. Why would I blame her?"

"She didn't report it." Hotch's tone softened slightly.

Emily didn't know how to respond to that. Of course she didn't blame Michelle. What she went through was terrible and it wasn't her fault. But if she didn't blame her, how could she possibly blame herself? They both went through exactly the same thing.

"Look Emily, what you went through was awful and I understand why you never told anybody." Hotch stopped and moved directly in front of her. "Now pull yourself together." The authoritative tone was back. "We need to concentrate on finding Hope and the others, so I need you to focus. If you can't, I will have to take you off this case, is that what you want?"

"No sir." Prentiss responded, immediately pulling herself into 'agent mode'. Hotch was right. It didn't matter whose fault it was, it had happened and it was her job, not only as a mother but also as an FBI agent, to bring these little girls home as soon as possible. Feeling sorry for herself was going to get them nowhere. "Lets go." She wiped the few remaining tears from her face and headed towards the bar entrance.

Hotch watched as she walked towards the bar and he smiled slightly. He hated speaking to her like that, especially with everything she was going through, but he knew it needed to be done. Now he had his agent back.

**Hey,**

**I am so sorry I haven't updated this for so long,**

**I know it's been a little slow getting up to the speed of things, but things will start to get more interesting, I promise.**

**Thank you for all who have read and reviewed,**

**Please keep 'em coming.**

**Will try and update soon,**

**Jade xxx **


End file.
